Launched in 1906, the Puffing Billy was an elaborate machine and the equivalent would cost #2000 to buy in the 1990s. This text follows the chain of false starts and ingenious ideas which have evolved around the modern-day vacuum cleaner.

Hailed by many as the world's greatest harmonica player, John Popper has redefined the instrument. As the lead singer and principal songwriter of Blues Traveler, Popper has performed for more than 30 million people over 2,000 live dates and composed such radio staples as "Hook," "But Anyway," and "Run-Around," the longest-charting single in Billboard history. He has appeared with Eric Clapton and B. B. King at the White House, welcomed the Hungarian ambassador to the stage, and inducted Carlos Santana into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In Suck and Blow, Popper shares a candid, spirited account of his life and career. A straight-F student at Princeton High School, Popper's life changed with one serendipitous harmonica solo that captured the attention of his mercurial band teacher (the same teacher whose life was later fictionalized in the Academy Award-winning film Whiplash). After befriending three fellow musicians with whom he would form Blues Traveler, Popper's academic career nearly ended in twelfth grade, until a meeting with the Dean of the New School for Social Research in which Popper pulled out his trusty harp and played his way into college. Popper and Blues Traveler soon became enmeshed in the lower Manhattan music scene of the late 1980s, eventually becoming the house band at the fabled Wetlands Preserve and embarking on a journey that would one day land the group at Madison Square Garden on New Year's Eve. Along the way, Popper and his cohorts commanded the attention of fans and bands alike, through inspired performances and riotous debauchery. Popper's unique perspective on the music business began under the tutelage of Blues Traveler's mentor and manager Bill Graham. After the rock impresario's untimely passing, Popper applied many of Graham's lessons to the formation of the H.O.R.D.E. tour, which John co-owned and hosted over eight years, welcoming such artists as Neil Young, the Allman Brothers Band, Phish, Dave Matthews Band, Ziggy Marley, and his longtime friends the Spin Doctors. Popper also shares a forthright assessment of his longstanding battle with obesity. Plagued by weight problems since childhood, a motorcycle accident a few years into his career confined him to a wheelchair for two years while his weight ballooned to 436 pounds. Angioplasty, gastric bypass surgery, and a tattoo on his chest that reads "I Want to Be Brave" when viewed in the mirror are products of Popper's struggle, compounded by codependency issues and the untimely death of founding Blues Traveler bassist Bobby Sheehan. Popper's personal identity is entwined with his political passions. A staunch supporter of gun rights, he has performed at the National Republican Convention, yet he also maintains liberal positions on social issues. He will reconcile these views and share his encounters with the Bush family, the Clintons, the Gores, and other politicos. The iconoclastic, self-described Johnny Appleharp also dishes on cutting contests, Twitter trolls, party fouls, and prostitutes. In Suck and Blow, John Popper does it all with his signature honesty, humility, and humor. /DIV

“Friend, asshole, angel, mutant,” singer-songwriter Vic Chesnutt “came along and made us gross and broken people seem . . . I dunno, cooler, I guess.” A quadriplegic who could play only simple chords on his guitar, Chesnutt recorded seventeen critically acclaimed albums before his death in 2009, including About to Choke, North Star Deserter, and At the Cut. In 2006, NPR placed him in the top five of the ten best living songwriters, along with Bob Dylan, Tom Waits, Paul McCartney, and Bruce Springsteen. Chesnutt’s songs have also been covered by many prominent artists, including Madonna, the Smashing Pumpkins, R.E.M., Sparklehorse, Fugazi, and Neutral Milk Hotel. Kristin Hersh toured with Chesnutt for nearly a decade and they became close friends, bonding over a love of songwriting and mutual struggles with mental health. In Don’t Suck, Don’t Die, she describes many seemingly small moments they shared, their free-ranging conversations, and his tragic death. More memoir than biography, Hersh’s book plumbs the sources of Chesnutt’s pain and creativity more deeply than any conventional account of his life and recordings ever could. Chesnutt was difficult to understand and frequently difficult to be with, but, as Hersh reveals him, he was also wickedly funny and painfully perceptive. This intimate memoir is essential reading for anyone interested in the music or the artist.

THE STORY: Sam, a young former policeman who has been drummed out of the force because of suspected corruption, is approached by his father, Mel, to act as a gay decoy to entrap a reportedly homosexual congressman. Mel, a convicted confidence man,

They never taught me how to handle this during teacher training at university. I work in a world with hormonal teenagers, inappropriate proposals, the full spectrum of bodily odours and the odd indecent exposure.” Ever wondered what life is like as a teacher? Or what happens on school or college trips? Perhaps you’ve speculated on what your teacher really thought about the students. Don’t Poo in the Pudding Bowl answers these questions and more! Including 34 real-life stories about teaching teens in Sheffield, this book reveals exactly what happens behind those school doors. Maxine Blake, a teacher for 37 years, takes the reader on a whirlwind tour of classrooms, school trips and student shenanigans, with plenty of awkward, embarrassing and laugh-out-loud funny moments along the way. From students escaping out of windows to conversations about farting pigeons, these stories will have you clutching your sides with laughter. Captivating, moving and side-splittingly hilarious, Don’t Poo in the Pudding Bowl is a must-read full of insights about the life of a teacher. Welcome to life in the classroom! A collection of short stories describing teacher/student interactions interjected with comedy moments, drama and of course teenage toilet humour. Don’t Poo, is a humorous memoir, collated throughout Maxine’s years of teaching. Perfect for your coffee table, bathroom reading or a dinner party conversation starter. This a great gift for those parents who ever wondered what their children get up to in and out of their classrooms whilst at school or if you want to re-live your childhood shenanigans with your friends. A reminder for teachers of what they’ve been through and more importantly, what is left to come. *** Captivating, moving and side-splittingly hilarious, Don’t Poo in the Pudding Bowl is a must-read full of insights about the life of a teacher. Welcome to life in the classroom!

Shanghai 1936. Word reaches the newsroom of the North China Daily-News that King Edward VIII is planning to marry an American divorcee, Mrs. Wallis Simpson, a one-time resident of Shanghai's International Settlement. Wallis Simpson has a thin but interesting file in the records of the Shanghai Municipal Police Department containing details of her activities in China-opium smoking, heroin peddling, learning the tricks of the trade at a high-class brothel and posing naked for naughty postcards. The lost negatives of Simpson immediately become sought after by the Shanghai police acting on behalf of the British Government, the Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek, the notorious Green Gang, agents of Adolf Hitler and Emily Hahn, the China Coast correspondent for the New Yorker magazine. Instead they end up in the clumsy hands of two naive young Americans, Eli Swan and Luther Flood, who have little idea of their international significance or how much trouble they are in when they take the negatives with them on holiday to the nearby mountain resort of MOKANSHAN

Four hundred scenarios from all of the bestselling books in the series—with dozens of new entries—from being kicked by a zebra to breakup texts. With over 10 million copies sold worldwide, the Worst-Case Scenario series has been preparing readers for dangers of all kinds for more than a decade. This handsome compendium is truly the ultimate guide for handling life’s inevitable Worst-Case Scenarios, collecting—for the first time—hundreds of the best and most crucial scenarios from across the entire 26-book series, along with dozens of all new and expanded scenarios, charts, and expert tips. Topical, tabloid-style pages explore more than 100 subjects, from storms to stampedes to technology failures and beyond, with special sections highlighting critical information on starting fires, animal encounters, emergency signals, “Can I eat that?” questions, and more. Packed with expert advice and sturdy enough to stop a tiger bite, this gifty tome will keep longtime fans and new initiates safe and entertained in equal measure. Praise for the Worst-Case Scenario Survival series “What this book lacks in spiritual enlightenment, it more than makes up for with the practical advice you thought you’d never need. Yet it’s only when you read about how to deliver a baby in the back of a taxi, surviving quicksand and mastering awkward lift silences that you realize just how handy a book like this could come in. Some day.” —The Irish Times “There is something for everyone. It has a wide range of scenarios from dangerous to just downright irritating . . . It is fun, witty, entertaining and you learn something along the way too.” —Quill Quotes